There was the baby Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and Joseph, a good witch and of course, three Kings.
If you thought the event last Sunday at the Dante Aligheri Society headquarters on Summit Avenue in Jersey City was a Christmas celebration done two weeks late, you don’t know Three Kings Day.
Three Kings Day is celebrated on Jan. 6, considered to be the end of the Christmas season (or the 12 days of Christmas).Also known as the Epiphany, a celebration takes place recounting the Biblical story of three kings – Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar – who followed the star of Bethlehem to bring gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the baby Christ. Three Kings Day – also a day that children and adults would get gifts – is feted in many countries as well as within the U.S.
Over 50 people came to the Sunday event organized by the Dante Aligheri Society with support from the Ray of Hope Foundation; the Michael J. Manzo Civic Association, “Kids-in-Need”; the development companies Metrovest Equities and Mack-Cali; and the Jersey City Police Department.
What they saw was the story of the Three Kings performed in old Mediterranean tradition with the La Befana (the good witch) guiding the Kings.
La Befana was played by local resident Silvana Kaminski, who also read a poem in her native Italian about the Befana. She said performing brought her back to her childhood in Abruzzi, Italy.
“The grownups would put on such a grand show for the kids, and I love doing it,” Kaminski said. “I called my relatives in Italy today, and they were telling us about their Three Kings celebration.”
The kings were played by Michael Manzo, Gregory Rivera, and Greg Krapp. Mary, Joseph, and the angel were played by members of the Skop family; respectively, Mabel, Ray Jr. and Christina. Christina also did a rendition of “Silent Night” in both English and German.
The story of the Nativity was read by members of the Ray of Hope Foundation.
And of course, the kids in attendance got their gifts – and no lumps of coal were in sight. Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com